Eternal Memories
by YaoiK
Summary: "It has come to my attention that sometimes you nations need to be reminded of your humanity. Please keep this book, and keep us in your memories, as perpetuated as they are. Thank you for everything." Tears were inevitable in the conference hall, but each nation agreed. Sometimes they just needed a simple reminder that they were still human in their own ways, no matter what.
1. Written by Ingrid Winfield

**This is a purely fictional work, none of the characters of Hetalia: Axis Powers belong to me. All rights belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
All original characters in this work belong to me and are not romantically paired with any canon characters.  
None of the canon characters are formally shipped, however some implications may surface, interpret those as you will.  
Some aspects of this fan fiction are kept semi-realistic and some error may be found throughout.**

* * *

_While the years have passed with not much event that brings fear back into my being, I have since begun the creation of this work. However the only souls to hear this story are those of my family, as extensive as it is. Perhaps it's only due to that simple desire of mine, to remember the truth and all that it's worth. That is why I have chosen to recount the tale of my birth, and the births and lives of my siblings as well. The tale filled with anomalies, love gone bitter and hope for a better future, despite the odds and the reality of our situation. My name is Ingrid Winfield, and allow me to share with you this tale of wonder that spans across each and every nation._

It all began with a single woman, Harriet Gin, a geneticist only as a means to an end as determined by her fellow laboratory occupants. She had her degrees early on in her life, but was since known to have settled down with a family. When she returned to school and thus joined a decently sized test center as a regular, albeit suddenly, many of her coworkers wondered why. None of them would ever discover the truth.

Harriet was a stoic woman, always keeping to herself and her work day in and day out. Aside from her daily reports on whatever project she was focusing on, none of her coworkers knew what she was doing, or for what purpose. However that didn't really matter once Harriet stumbled upon something that surprised even her.

She had been analyzing the correlating hereditary traits between parent and offspring of current congressmen and politicians as well as the recent President of the United States, to determine if certain hereditary traits, whether negative or positive, repeated in the same manner, when she began to notice something. Or more specifically, some_one_. One man, blond hair with blue eyes and a cowlick that nearly stood straight up. This man was one Harriet had seen before, only years and years ago when she was still studying in her particular field of biology. She had written a paper on the possibilities for better or worse politicians, and had included a portion on how her data would attribute to a better or worse president… And that man was there as well.

This struck Harriet as immensely odd, seeing as the man in her current files looked exactly the same as the man she just vaguely noticed back in her youth. It looked as if he had not aged a day during those nearly thirty years.

With her curiosity getting the best of her, she attempted to retrieve more information on that man, but even after extensive research all she could find was his name: Alfred Jones. It particularly distressed Harriet that there was no information on this man, whether he was a politician or just an errand boy didn't matter at this point, so she chose to turn to a young man she had met shortly after returning to the field: Ronald Hatter.

Ronald was recently employed in the field of bioinformatics, however he was very well known through the halls of the laboratory as that one 'whippersnapper' who had a degree in social psychology, neurobiology, and even teaching. Just looking at his résumé, one would assume those fields meant that he was comfortable around other people, but one look at the guy would make anyone think twice.

The kid was a complete mess. He was lanky, awkward, an introvert and immensely shy; it appeared to be a miracle that he was even hired into a building that was bustling with people. However, his talents in his fields were obvious, and that much gave Harriet enough reason to try getting him to work with her. Besides, once she got the information she wanted, she would make sure that she left him to his business like before.

If only that were true.

After being skillfully convinced, Ronald began digging for information on the mysterious Alfred Jones. He wasn't exactly sure what kind of information Ms. Gin was looking for, but even the general favor she asked of him gave him a run for his money. He was always a thorough researcher, and never one to back down from getting the answers he was searching for, so when he found it difficult to find anything on Mr. Alfred Jones, he only tried harder and dug deeper. That is, until he struck gold.

The results of his intense search were both puzzling and fascinating, however it took him a while to actually start accepting the data he discovered to be actual truth. _Personified countries_, just the very term sounded preposterous, but just like Ms. Gin spotted Alfred Jones, Ronald began to spot several other 'countries' in pictures and files from throughout history. He reported this to Ms. Gin as he was told, and she was just as perplexed as he had been. However, as she read over the files he delivered to her, she seemed pleased, almost delighted even. Something was beginning to conjure within her mind, and little did Ronald know that he would promptly be dragged into a series of events that would change not only his life, but the lives of every nation. At least for a time.


	2. The Collection

******This is a purely fictional work, none of the characters of Hetalia: Axis Powers belong to me. All rights belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
All original characters in this work belong to me and are not romantically paired with any canon characters.  
None of the canon characters are formally shipped, however some implications may surface, interpret those as you will.  
Some aspects of this fan fiction are kept semi-realistic and some error may be found throughout.**

* * *

It was only a short time after Ronald discovered the personified countries for Ms. Gin that she introduced him to two other men that would be assisting them on their experiment. At first, Ronald had no idea what 'experiment' Ms. Gin had referred to during his introduction to Donovan Shields, a pediatrician, and Reginald Winfield, an obstetrician, but she briefed the three of them on her plan as they packed up a large truck full of miscellaneous items and machinery.

What Harriet Gin wanted to do was begin to gather the DNA of every personified country, which really wasn't much since the majority of countries didn't have a personified representative, claiming she wanted to try to determine what in their genetics made them so different from actual humans. Granted they looked and behaved like normal people, but they were _countries_, seemingly immortal beings with no clear beginning or end.

While Ronald thought that Ms. Gin's idea for such an experiment was rather sensible, to an extent, he had to wonder what she needed Shields and Winfield for. At first, she said she just wanted them to help her and Ronald move some equipment to a new laboratory that they'd use for the experiment, and they even volunteered to help collect the DNA of the countries (since they were still being paid by the organization they worked under), but much later on in the months they were working together, the three men discovered Gin's actual intentions.

The first thing that tipped them off to the… _peculiarity_ of Gin's actual plot, was the location of the laboratory. It was settled within the Hoia-Baciu Forest, located near Cluj-Napoca, Romania, a place known for its paranormal activity and was fittingly known as the Bermuda Triangle of Romania. Now, while the three men expressed their concern about inhabiting a laboratory within that forest, Gin simply replied that its reputation would keep away any unwanted guests. She didn't believe that there were any sort of aliens or ghosts residing in the forest previously.

The laboratory itself had initially belonged to scientists looking to examine the forest and try to determine the cause of the paranormal activity, but it had since been abandoned after some 'unfortunate accidents' as Gin put it. That didn't exactly help in convincing the three at first, but once Gin sent them out on their mission, the pressure of living in such a place escaped to the back of their minds for the while.

And so the months passed, the three men doing their job searching for and collecting DNA from the personified countries, and trust that it was no easy task. While they were countries, they blended in like normal humans, and they were good at covering up their tracks, but once Ronald got a system going for tracking them down, it was only a matter of time before they had gone down the list and acquired a sample of DNA for each country.

For the 39 countries that had a personified representative, it took about two weeks to find and acquire the sample on average. In total, it took the three men with their combined efforts nearly_ three years_ to collect all the samples, and over those near three years, they had sent the samples that they had acquired first back to Gin, who had remained in the laboratory in Romania. And it was when the three men returned to that laboratory that they discovered the first of many results of why Gin had wanted the DNA in the first place.

And her name was Victoria.


	3. The First of Many

******This is a purely fictional work, none of the characters of Hetalia: Axis Powers belong to me. All rights belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
All original characters in this work belong to me and are not romantically paired with any canon characters.  
None of the canon characters are formally shipped, however some implications may surface, interpret those as you will.  
Some aspects of this fan fiction are kept semi-realistic and some error may be found throughout.**

* * *

Victoria: female, auburn hair, green eyes... and born through an artificial womb using the DNA samples of the personified countries of Spain and England. Yes, it came as quite the shock to Hatter, Shields and Winfield as well. Just as they had stepped in through the door of the laboratory, quite reluctantly mind you, Gin called for Winfield to come quickly. Winfield complied immediately due to her tone of voice when she summoned him, and the other two followed. The sight that they came to wasn't one they expected.

The machine itself was strangely designed, looking much like a woman's engorged stomach as it did during the final days of pregnancy. However, this machine was mainly forged of an opaque material so that the infant growing inside it could barely be viewed with the human eye. The opening in the front of the machine was made of some rubber-like material, seeing as it stretched and contracted like actual muscles. When the three men came to the door to that room, the infant that had apparently been created in such a machine began to crown through the front opening, and Gin greeted Winfield with a pair of sterilized rubber gloves. As an obstetrician, Winfield was the only one qualified to deliver an infant, even though it came from such an oddly designed machine.

Once the delivery was successful, Winfield proceeded with the prenatal care. The baby girl was in excellent condition, weighing in at a little over 7 pounds, a normal weight for a newborn. The basic examinations were taken care of quickly, and Winfield returned the baby to Gin, swaddled in a soft pink towel.

"Now that that's taken care of, what is the meaning of this?" he asked her sternly. He understood that Gin was his superior by a great number of years, but he wanted answers.

"It's rather simple, really." Gin answered, cradling the baby lovingly. "This is all part of the experiment."

"Using infants and children for experimentation in any way is not only unethical, but illegal!" Hatter responded.

"We're not going to be experimenting on the children themselves, Ronald." Gin said. "We're simply raising them, there's nothing unethical about that. What I meant by including them as part of the experiment is that they are born using the DNA of the personified countries. We will be raising them and observing the results as they grow."

"You're saying _they_…" Shields narrowed his eyes. "How many of those machines do you have functioning?"

"Several." Gin smiled, albeit darkly. "And a few of them will complete their cycles within the next month or two, so I suggest you stick around for the while."

It struck the three men instantaneously. The real reason Gin wanted Shields and Winfield to assist in this experiment: Winfield was an obstetrician, and was licensed to deliver and care for infants, and Shields was a pediatrician, and could ensure that the children grow up healthy and with minimal issues. Hatter had a teaching degree, which meant he could homeschool them once they were of the right age.

"Was this your ploy this entire time?!" Hatter exclaimed. "To fool us into gathering the samples you needed for this experiment?!"

"Come now, Ronald, there was no ploy." Gin said. "Not at first, that is. You were the one who helped me discover the nations in the first place, were you not? It was only my nature as a scientist to want to learn as much as I can about them, and now I'm only taking it a step further."

"And you expect us to help you without question?" Winfield asked.

"Of course." Gin smiled. "We're all decently qualified to raise children, with myself having experience being a mother myself. And besides, wouldn't it be much smarter to have the responsibilities divided equally among us?"

"I only have one concern." Shields stood firm with his arms crossed over his chest. "How many of these children do you intend on creating?"

"Oh, not many." Gin said, taking steps to leave the room. "Just enough to provide variation and a wide array of results."

That was what she said. But that wasn't what she meant.


	4. A Single Dozen

**********This is a purely fictional work, none of the characters of Hetalia: Axis Powers belong to me. All rights belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
All original characters in this work belong to me and are not romantically paired with any canon characters.  
None of the canon characters are formally shipped, however some implications may surface, interpret those as you will.  
Some aspects of this fan fiction are kept semi-realistic and some error may be found throughout.  
****The pairings mentioned throughout are random and do not intentionally reflect my personal ships. Thank you.**

* * *

Two months after Victoria's 'birth', three new infants came from the other machines Gin had set up in a separate room. Three boys: Vladmir, Sergei and Jan, in that order. They were born within a close time range, so much so that they were considered triplets, and that wasn't the only reason. Each of the three boys held Ukraine's DNA, and had similar light blonde tufts of hair on their heads at birth. Their only differences were their second DNA contributions. Vladmir held France's DNA, while Sergei had Belarus's and Jan had Iceland's. Grouped with their slightly older sister Victoria, these four made up the eldest children that would result from Gin's 'experiment'.

The four children were assigned at one to each adult, and they were cared for accordingly. Once a routine was settled into, the three men quickly forgot about their initial reluctance to comply with Gin's plan, mainly since they were focused on caring for their assigned infant. And it was only a matter of time, barely even a year, before the machines started up again and yet another child was born. And another… and another.

Megan was the first of the set of four born that year. Born of Denmark and Greece, she had dark brown hair and was thus far the quietest of the children. And she was only a precursor for more well-behaved infants. While the elder four themselves were decently behaved, the latter four were much quieter throughout their infancy.

Ching Lan, a dark haired girl born of Russia and China, came after Megan. And after her came another boy, Yuri, born of Russia and Hungary. The last of the four for that year was Susan, a girl born from Sweden and Finland's DNA. There was no apparent pattern in the DNA used in each child, so it was possible Gin was creating them all at random. However, there did seem to be some sort of pattern when it came to their genders.

Each female child had been born of male/male DNA pairs, while the majority of the boys, save for Sergei, had been born of a male/female pair. With Sergei being the only boy born of a female/female pair, it would have to be observed later to see if those pairings delivered a certain gender of child. The next group of four children came, like their previous siblings, nearly a year after the second group of four.

The third group of four would be the final group of four on record for the children's births. Amara, born of Cuba and Hungary, was born first, and was thus far the only one with darker skin than her siblings. With her male/female DNA pair, it proved that male/female pairs didn't always bring about a male child, it was most likely either or. The next child born was Ramona, who further proved this with her [South] Italy and Belarus pair. Neil, born of Denmark and Taiwan, and the next boy Tuan, born of China and Vietnam, solidified the fact that male/female pairs will birth a child of either gender.

After this group of four, and the total of children rising to twelve within three years, the three men decided to have a discussion with Gin. Granted they were running into no problems with handling the children, but four a year would easily overcrowd the laboratory. They needed to set a boundary that would prevent Gin from going overboard and thus giving them too many mouths to feed. Gin's real reason for even creating the children was still unclear, though it was becoming apparent she was simply going on impulse, as if it were just a game. Hatter wasn't pleased with this, and quickly got into a heated argument with her. Eventually, a compromise was met. With Shields and Winfield making the calculations, they found the largest number of children they could sustain would be no more than _thirty_, which Gin quickly made the boundary, despite the men's arguments.

With the final verdict of 30 children looming above them, Hatter, Shields and Winfield knew they were far too over their heads to try to back out of the situation. It could be considered blackmail on Gin's part, and while that may have been her plan in the first place, the three knew they couldn't just leave the children solely to her care.

So as time went on, the three hoped that they wouldn't meet or surpass the 30 child mark. And thankfully for them, they never did.


	5. A Single Error

**************This is a purely fictional work, none of the characters of Hetalia: Axis Powers belong to me. All rights belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
All original characters in this work belong to me and are not romantically paired with any canon characters.  
None of the canon characters are formally shipped, however some implications may surface, interpret those as you will.  
Some aspects of this fan fiction are kept semi-realistic and some error may be found throughout.  
****The pairings mentioned throughout are random and do not intentionally reflect my personal ships. Thank you.**

* * *

As time went on, more children were born through the artificial wombs, though at a smaller number than the first three groups of four. The year following the third group brought only two children, Florence and Kirsten. Florence was born of Canada and Switzerland, while Kirsten was of Germany and Lithuania. The slower pace of births served the adults well, so they could focus on each child equally, seeing as the eldest children were now three years old and already walking and talking. There had been no problems with them, though that would only last for so long.

With now fourteen children living in the laboratory, and with more planned by Gin, there were times where not all of them were accounted for. At one point, when Gin was preparing to start the process for three more children, Victoria wandered into that part of the lab. Gin found nothing wrong with this, and allowed the eldest child to observe her at work. Victoria watched her insert the DNA samples into the machine and the machine whirred softly to life. She wanted to try too, so Gin handed her the capsule of Prussia's DNA to insert into the machine. However, with Victoria being unintentionally troublesome, she managed to get into the sample containment unit, where all the samples were kept, and switched Prussia's DNA with South Korea's without Gin's knowing. Gin had her insert that capsule along with Germany's DNA, intending to create a purely German child, but nine months later when the three children were born, Gin discovered the error.

The other two children, a boy named Sage with England and Taiwan's DNA, and a girl Soraya with Austria and Japan's DNA, Gin had no problem with since they were born as she intended. But she wasn't pleased with the third daughter, Sun, who hadn't come out as she wanted. Born with blonde hair and blue eyes, one couldn't tell there had been an error at all, but Gin refused to name or hold her when she was born, stating that she was an error and shouldn't be kept within the laboratory. Shields was particularly shocked at her response to Victoria's mistake, and instead of removing Sun like she wanted, Shields chose to care for her instead. Just because she came out differently didn't mean she wasn't worth raising. It was ultimately concerning that Gin reacted in such a way, going as far as to punish Victoria for a mistake she didn't mean to make, and ignoring the infant Sun whenever she looked to her for attention.

A year after Sun's birth, two more children were added to the growing roster. Kara, born of Turkey and France, and Aya, born of Poland and Japan. Due to Victoria's error with Sun, Gin forbade any of the children from entering the section of the lab that held the artificial wombs, to ensure that no other mistakes were made in the future. However, as much as she refused to accept Sun into the family, the other children didn't care that she had been born with different DNA than what she had been intended to have; they accepted her as one of their own regardless.

The following year brought three more children, Candy, born of Canada and Italy, Jia-Li, born of America and China, and Shawn, born of Seychelles and Switzerland. It was at this point in time that the eldest children were now six years old, and frequently volunteered to help the adults with caring for their younger siblings. The triplets proved to be excellent older brothers, making sure that the younger ones stayed out of trouble and didn't get themselves hurt. On the other hand, Victoria was more suited for entertaining the children with playful imaginary tales and adventures, and was able to keep their attention for a long enough time that the adults could have a break once a day.

During one of these breaks, the group had another discussion. With now 22 children, and the three men having no intention of hitting thirty, they tried to convince Gin to stop creating them. She was adamant, and refused to lower her boundary of thirty. In response, Hatter proceeded to ask her just _why_ she was so insistent on raising so many children.

"I've already told you, it's an experiment to see how the genetics of the countries contribute to their lives as a whole." Gin replied. "It's as simple as that."

"I'm starting to think it's not." Hatter said. "If we were simply observing the children for that reason, we wouldn't have to make so many! Gin, if there's something you're not telling us, then you better say so now."

"I have nothing to say to you." Gin retorted, standing from her seat and leaving the room. "I'm in charge of this operation, and whatever I say, goes!"


	6. Come Little Children

******************This is a purely fictional work, none of the characters of Hetalia: Axis Powers belong to me. All rights belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
All original characters in this work belong to me and are not romantically paired with any canon characters.  
None of the canon characters are formally shipped, however some implications may surface, interpret those as you will.  
Some aspects of this fan fiction are kept semi-realistic and some error may be found throughout.  
****The pairings mentioned throughout are random and do not intentionally reflect my personal ships. Thank you.**

* * *

Despite Gin's stubborn hold on the thirty-child boundary she set, Hatter's argument managed to bring the child birth count to only one that next year. Perhaps all she needed was to be challenged and to make her think about what she was doing. If everything was just on impulse, then considering the possible consequences of her behavior could probably bring this entire situation to a close, and they could focus on raising the children that were already born. The three men could only wait and see.

Little Tibo was the only child born that year, born from Monaco and Liechtenstein, and he was by far the smallest infant born from the artificial womb, weighing in at just barely five pounds. Gin took special care of him due to his small size, and kept him from his siblings for the majority of the time until he was strong enough to be able to play with them. The triplets adored him, though Tibo more frequently followed Yuri around once he could crawl.

The year after Tibo's birth brought no additional children, much to the relief of the three men. That could be a sign that Gin was finally starting to stop with her excessive use of the artificial womb, but Tibo certainly wasn't the last child born.

That next year, another girl, Ingrid, was born of Norway and Netherlands. She was born only slightly larger than Tibo had been at birth, and this worried the adults. Could it be possible that the wombs were malfunctioning in some way that caused this? They examined the machines repeatedly with nothing coming out as out of the ordinary, but this condition had excellent timing, seeing as it was about time Gin should stop creating the children altogether.

Another two years passed before the next child was born, a boy named Sebastian born of Austria and Seychelles, having the same smaller birth 'defect' as the previous two children. At the time of his birth, the laboratory had settled into a frequent routine.

Around six in the morning, the adults would alternate waking the children, seeing as they all slept in the second largest room in the laboratory, in their own individual cots. Any infants and the youngest children were kept where the adults slept, in case they woke in the middle of the night. Once the children were up, it was time for a shower. A coin flip would decide which gender got the shower first. Afterwards they dressed in the same drab grey body suits that covered everything except their hands and feet. (Their pajamas were mainly grey nightgowns for girls or grey nightshirts and pants for boys.) Of course, each gender had their specific undergarments, but they were by no means colorful. They wore slip-on shoes on their feet, and the girls wore their hair down. Haircuts were performed once a month for whichever children desired it.

After they showered and dressed, it was time for breakfast. Depending on whose turn it was to cook depended on what was served. When it was Hatter's turn, it was eggs and toast; Shields's turn was pancakes; Winfield's turn was waffles and sausage, and Gin's turn was oatmeal. If any of the children had been misbehaving, they'd receive a bowl of bland cereal. The only choice the children could make in matters of breakfast was if they wanted milk or orange juice. This would repeat for lunch and dinner, though obviously with different foods.

The rest of the day would be different for certain children. The children under age 6, which would be Candy, Jia-Li, Shawn, Tibo, Ingrid and Sebastian, would spend the majority of the day playing with Shields, who taught them basic things at their own pace. All the older children had classes with the other three adults. The material covered was dictated mainly by Gin, and differed for each set of children depending on their age, but Hatter and Winfield had their own methods of teaching certain things. The elder children would get breaks every couple hours, and would play with the younger ones during that time.

After lunch, while the younger children had their nap, the children would have 'P.E.' with Shields and Hatter. Exercise equipment was situated in one room to be used by the twelve eldest children, while mats were set up in another room for the middle children to play games. P.E. would last until just before dinnertime, to give the children time to shower (whichever gender went last in the morning went first after P.E.).

After dinner was free time for the children to play or do any homework the adults assigned to them. Bedtime differed for the elder and younger children as well. The older children got to stay up as late as ten-thirty pm, while the younger children would promptly go to bed by eight.

This was their routine year after year, and the children didn't know any better. They believed every family was as large as theirs were, that they did the exact same things. Gin forbade them from watching TV and going outside to 'protect' them, as she put it. From Hatter's perspective, their lives looked like a prison, and the longer it went on, the more Hatter didn't like it.

Two years after Sebastian's birth came Hildegard, a daughter born of Sweden and Liechtenstein and the twenty-sixth child. It was at this point that Hatter would bring up the idea of letting the children go outside to play and explore each time the adults had their weekly to bi-weekly meeting. And each time Gin would remain adamant. She insisted that the children would have a better life within the laboratory walls, but Hatter refused to back down.

With the birth of the final child, Kiki, a daughter born of Prussia and Japan's DNA, a year after Hildegard's birth, things began to change within the laboratory as Hatter and Gin continued to butt heads.


	7. Touching the Outside

**********************This is a purely fictional work, none of the characters of Hetalia: Axis Powers belong to me. All rights belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.  
All original characters in this work belong to me and are not romantically paired with any canon characters.  
None of the canon characters are formally shipped, however some implications may surface, interpret those as you will.  
Some aspects of this fan fiction are kept semi-realistic and some error may be found throughout.  
****The pairings mentioned throughout are random and do not intentionally reflect my personal ships. Thank you.**

* * *

_Victoria__ – Age 14 – Hair: Auburn, Eyes: Green_

_Vladmir__ – Age 14 – Hair: Platinum Blond, Eyes: Blue_

_Sergei__ – Age 14 – Hair: Platinum Blond, Eyes: Grey_

_Jan__ – Age 14 – Hair: Platinum Blond, Eyes: Violet_

_Megan__ – Age 13 – Hair: Dark Brown, Eyes: Green_

_Ching-Lan__ – Age 13 – Hair: Black, Eyes: Violet_

_Yuri__ – Age 13 – Hair: Light Brown, Eyes: Light Violet_

_Susan__ – Age 13 – Hair: Blonde, Eyes: Blue_

_Amara__ – Age 12 – Hair: Black, Eyes: Amber_

_Ramona__ – Age 12 – Hair: Auburn, Eyes: Amber_

_Neil__ – Age 12 – Hair: Dirty Blond, Eyes: Brown_

_Tuan__ – Age 12 – Hair: Black, Eyes: Amber_

_Florence__ – Age 11 – Hair: Blonde, Eyes: Blue-Violet_

_Kirsten__ – Age 11 – Hair: Brown, Eyes: Green_

_Sage__ – Age 10 – Hair: Black, Eyes: Green_

_Soraya__ – Age 10 – Hair: Black, Eyes: Violet_

_Sun__ – Age 10 – Hair: Blonde, Eyes: Blue_

_Kara__ – Age 9 – Hair: Dark Brown, Eyes: Blue_

_Aya__ – Age 9 – Hair: Blonde, Eyes: Green_

_Candy__ – Age 8 – Hair: Red, Eyes: Blue_

_Jia-Li__ – Age 8 – Hair: Black, Eyes: Blue_

_Shawn__ – Age 8 – Hair: Dark Brown, Eyes: Green_

_Tibo__ – Age 7 – Hair: Light Brown, Eyes: Light Green_

_Ingrid__ – Age 5 – Hair: Platinum Blonde, Eyes: Violet_

_Sebastian__ – Age 3 – Hair: Black, Eyes: Amber_

_Hildegard__ – Age 1 – Hair: Blonde, Eyes: Green_

_Kiki__ – Newborn – Hair: White, Eyes: Red |_

Hatter stared pensively as he updated the children's information, adding Kiki's to the list. Twenty-seven children… and all of them were fooled into thinking laboratory life was normal. Leaning back in his swivel chair, he sighed. How could he possibly convince Gin to let the children go? There was something that made her so adamant, something that Hatter had no clue as to what it was and why it's made her this way. As he thought harder as to how he could gain an advantage, he was promptly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Papa…?" Yuri's voice called from the other side of the door. "Are you in there?"

Hatter was surprised Yuri was even knocking on the door. Ever since Hatter and Gin began butting heads, Gin purposefully made the rooms closest to the front exit off limits to the children. None of them had even given a thought as to why, most likely being Gin was fond of delivering corporal punishment whenever any of the children broke her rules, intentionally or not. However, most of the time one of the three men were there to intervene and get a handle on the situation before any of the children were stricken. Thus, most of the children were too afraid of her to disobey her.

The room Hatter was currently in was the closest to the front door; it was the main data storage room, and the only room with a window. Hatter stood from his chair and strode to the door, opening it carefully so as to not startle Yuri. The pre-teen stared up at him during the moment of silence before Hatter spoke.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Miss Gin asked me to go and find you." Yuri answered, his gaze falling to his feet. Hatter vaguely recalled the fact the elder children referred to Gin as 'Miss Gin', while they called him, Shields and Winfield 'Papa', 'Dad' and 'Father', whether out of respect or otherwise was unknown to him. "She said to remind you your meeting will be starting in twenty minutes."

"Thank you, Yuri." Hatter nodded, giving him a pat on the head before pausing. Normally he'd tell Yuri to run along back to his siblings, but this situation gave him a different idea. "Would you mind stepping inside for a moment?"

Yuri flinched at the suggestion, clearly understanding Gin's rules, but Hatter opened the door wider and motioned him in. "It's fine," he said, "because I'm inviting you in." Yuri paused before nodding and stepping inside the room. Once inside, Hatter closed the door and switched on the light, allowing Yuri to observe the contents of the room. There were three bookshelves that lined the walls, one with a TV fitted snugly amongst the books. Yuri stepped over to it and dragged a couple fingers over the screen before looking to Hatter.

"What's this?" he asked.

Never in Hatter's life could he have imagined a thirteen year old boy would ask him what a TV was. Nevertheless, he answered.

"It's called a television, or TV for short." He said. "They receive broadcast transmissions from various stations to deliver picture and sound as advertisements, entertainment and news." He swiped the remote from his desk and powered on the TV, startling Yuri a bit in the process. The local news station was on, and Yuri was immediately transfixed with the pictures and sounds coming from the small box. "Though, since we're in Romania, and I don't speak Romanian, I don't regularly watch TV these days." He promptly powered off the TV and Yuri turned back to him, before lying his eyes on Hatter's computer.

"Is that a TV too?" he asked. Hatter shook his head and smiled.

"This is a computer." He said. "It's sort of like a TV, but you can use it to look up any information you want to know. In fact, you can use a computer for lots of things, like storing data and communicating with people all over the world."

"Wow… That's amazing." Yuri gaped, stepping over to the desk and looking to the keyboard. "And what does this do?"

"It's called a keyboard." Hatter answered. "You can type the letters to form words and enter a command to search for information. I'll teach you to use it in time, though that time isn't now."

"Really?" Yuri asked, a smile on his face. "That sounds great, Papa!" Taking another look around the relatively small room, Yuri noticed the closed curtains on the far wall. Tentatively stepping over, he pulled them apart, revealing the Hoia-Baciu Forest covered in a light dust of late December snow. The early evening light filtered through the trees to give the forest a sparkle that reflected in Yuri's curious eyes. He placed a hand on the glass, which was cold from the temperature outside, before looking back to Hatter.

"This isn't a TV…" he mumbled. Hatter was unsure if he should do what he truly wanted to, but he knew that there may never be a better opportunity. He nodded to Yuri's mumbling and carefully undid the upper latch that held the window shut. Tugging the handle up, Hatter opened the window and let the cold winter air inside the room. Yuri let out a slight shiver as a breeze bushed against his face.

"Papa—" Yuri tried to ask Hatter one of the hundreds of questions running through his head at that moment, but Hatter simply took his hand, extending it out the window to catch a few falling snowflakes. His fingers curled closed as they fell into his palm. "Papa…"

"Yuri, I know this might be asking a lot of you." Mr. Hatter nudged Yuri's hand back into the room and closed the window, locking it and pulling the curtains closed. "But you cannot tell anyone about what I've shown you just now."

"But what is it, Papa?" Yuri asked quickly. Hatter paused and took a moment to think of an answer. He placed a hand on Yuri's head in an affectionate pat, though his face remained grim.

"That is the outside world, Yuri." He said. "And while it goes against my own personal beliefs on how to raise you, Gin had forbidden any of you to experience it. I'm trusting you to keep this a secret until I can find a way to get you and your siblings out of here. Okay?"

Yuri nodded in response and Hatter led him out of the room, turning off the light on the way out. It was a lot to ask of him, but with this single experience, Hatter was all the more determined to find a way to get the children out of this prison they called a home.


End file.
